columbia wrote:So other than convenience, there's not necessarily a reason to buy "fresh" wild salmon?

I definitely prefer 'fresh wild caught'; superior texture and flavor, imo. Parasite infections are pretty common in Alaskan coastal villages, and it's not a terribly dangerous thing to have one of those tapeworm thingys in your gut..... but they can cause anemia, are known to grow to like 30 feet in length and can live for decades. It's a matter of measured risk..

Thanks to all that added comments. As shmenguin said, probably not much savings to be had. I figure after buying all the gear and expense from learning, I'll probably stick to getting sushi from a brick and mortar rather than my own kitchen. Added to the fact of health concerns, being an amateur sushi chef can wait.

Tif, you shop at Santa Monica Seafood? They appear to be the select supplier for the places we frequent and it seems they offer fresh, quality products.

I have been to SM Seafood, but tbh they don't really float my boat. They seem to have no better quality or selection than Whole Foods, but charge a premium price because of their name cache. International Marine Products in DTLA was the hands down best place to go, but they went wholesale-only a couple years ago. There's a market in San Pedro at the port of L.A. that's open to the public on Saturday mornings. But if you're not there by 7 am, don't bother; everything of any quality will be long gone.

Some of the best local stuff is to be had at area farmers markets. The best markets also have purveyors of animal products in addition to the fruit of the land. So you can get really high quality products (especially Santa Barbara and Carlsbad shellfish) at decent prices directly from the purveyor.

BigMcK wrote:Thanks to all that added comments. As shmenguin said, probably not much savings to be had. I figure after buying all the gear and expense from learning, I'll probably stick to getting sushi from a brick and mortar rather than my own kitchen. Added to the fact of health concerns, being an amateur sushi chef can wait.

a cost effective way to practice technique and have a little fun...

Spoiler:

i make california(ish) rolls all the time. i use precooked shrimp, cucumber and avacado.

Me, if I have a really good meal, al fresco, say, followed by an espresso and an eau de vie and someone offers me a cigarette? I’m going to have it. I love a cigarette. What a pleasure with, say, a grappa overlooking the harbor of Portofino on my 49th birthday. Damn, that was a good cigarette. But I have no intention of addicting myself again, because that will give me the lung cancer and emphysema that killed my dad. I’d sooner eat straight sugar than drink a regular Coke, but am I going to forgo duck confit and bacon so that I can eke out 90 years? Are you kidding me? Shoot me now.

I’m sorry, I just get so goddam sick of studies and data telling me how to live, reading about this or that new diet that’s going to take pounds off my body and add countless Sound of Music years to my life. My hunch is that people don’t actually want to live longer—I think people want to be happier, to be more at ease with who they are, to feel glad when they wake up rather than dreadful, to feel good at the end of the day instead of crummy. The South Beach diet is not going to do this for you. Show me the data on how to be happy and I’ll listen. That’s what people are after and they can’t get their fingers on it. It’s not in a damned diet book, that’s for sure. It’s more likely in a pot of minestrone simmering on the stove.

shmenguin, that picture is telling me to stop on the way home for some sushi and warm saki. (Why did I have to see that picture with so many hours left in the day before heading home...)

Used to wonder what these shops had to offer until last week when I visited one. Don't think I can recall seeing a 3" thick steak before. They call it a Cowboy and it was priced like $24.00 per pound. That's a hunk of beef for a hunk of cash.

Salmon, Carrot, Asparagus, Shallots, & Pea Shoots with Soy-Lime Vinaigrette and Ginger(The is a riff on a plate from "Avec Eric" by Eric Ripert)

I'm still experimenting with various techniques to mimic proper SV. The fish and veggies were cooked via displacement packaging in an 88°C bath on the stove top. Guess what? That's WAY too hot for salmon! (*smacks forehead in shame*) You go from raw to cat food in like six minutes. I got a nice fat blob of hot oil on my arm when I seared the fish after cooking, which I'm guessing was the baby Jeezus punishing me for overcooking the fish.

Also learned that cooking shallots in a plastic bag submerged in water makes for the most unappetizing, bitter little mouth IEDs you can imagine. Seriously, they were terrible. I wanted to cook them to softness, then give some color to the cut sides in hot oil after. I bit into one at the table and it was....... awful. Was it just a wonky shallot? Or is there something up with the technique?

The veggies were nice, and the vinaigrette was proper good. And I know what to do to cook the fish correctly. And immediately upon seeing this photo, I knew how to correct the plating to make it less haphazard in appearance. So this is the worst I'll ever cook this particular dish. Which is good.

Re-sharing a link here for ChefSteps, a free online cooking school run by Chris Young - former development chef at The Fat Duck working for Heston Blumenthal, and the principal co-author of "Modernist Cuisine" - and staffed by several MC alumni. I've been poking around there since the end of January, and I can't begin to tell you how cool this community is. It's a mix of professional chefs, caterers and home enthusiasts like me, and we've even begun crowd sourcing techniques and recipes.

If you have any interest at all in developing as a cook, I suggest frequenting this site and taking their sous vide course. Really, really good stuff.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 X 13" baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and hot sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. Carefully scoop the potatoes into the prepared baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mixture as possible. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy and browned on the outside. While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the left over olive oil/hot sauce mixture and stir to coat. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. In a bowl mix together the cheese, bacon and green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mixture. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.Serve with extra hot sauce and/or ranch dressing

Everything came together in my head at the farmers market Sunday morning. Walked by my favorite veggie spot and they had lemon and purple basil. So I got both and made sauces out of them. Each was simply blanched in hot water and shocked in ice, then pureed with some ice and ice water, mixed with a touch of lemon juice and xanthan gum to thicken, then strained and reserved. Scallops are always delicious.

I think this is a very interesting concept. I enjoy variety in my food far to much to try this, but the dude is treating the body just like a machine. Give it what it needs, keep out what's bad for it and go about your business. I can see this working for a lot of people... just not me. I like cooking too much to do it.